Trolley.



PATENTED NOV. 29, 1904.

W. A. HOLLAND.

TROLLEY.

APPLIGATION FILED 1320.11, 190s.

N0 MODEL.

3 .Elli

UNTTED STATES Patented November 29, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM ALBERT HOLLAND, OF LONDON, OHIO, ASSTGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO E. E. HARVEY, OFLONDON, OHIO.

TROLLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,064, dated November 29, 1904.

Application led December 11J 1903. Serial No. 184,802. (No model.)

.To u/ZZ whom, t may concern: Y

Be it known that l, VILLIAM ALBERT Hoi.- LAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at London, in the county of Madison and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Trolley, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to a novel trolley for electrically-propelled vehicles.

One object of the invention is to so construct the mounting of the trolley that the latter will be free to move on a vertical axis independently of the pole to accommodate de-- iiections and curves in the wire and will be automatically restored to its proper position in alinement with the pole when the wheel leaves the wire in order to facilitate the replacement of the wheel in contact with the wire by the manipulation of the pole in the usual manner.

Another object of the invention is to utilize the wheel-alining means as a latch normally retaining the trolley-harp, but arranged to permit the detachment of the latter from the head when the wheel is turned to a position substantially at right angles to that normally assumed by it.

A further object of the invention is to provide simple and efiicient means for maintaining the electrical connection between the trolley andthe pole and for preventing undue lateral vibration of the trolley-wheel on its shaft, while permitting such slight lateral movement as may be necessary to accommodate minor deflections in the wire.

A still further object of the invention is to providea guard for preventing stay-wires and cross connections from catching under the trolley-wheel as the trolley advances.

To the accomplishment of the recited-objects and others, which will more fully appear the preferred embodiment of the invention resides in that construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying' drawings, and succinctly defined in the appended claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is aside elevation of the upper end of a trolley-pole equipped in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation thereof, partly in section and with the lower portion of the wheel broken away. Fig. 3 is a sectional view, on a large scale, showing the mounting of theharp, and the manner in which the electrical connection is established. Fig. It is a horizontal section on the line 4@ i of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a detail view of the contactplate.

Lilie numerals of reference' are employed to designate corresponding parts in the several iigures of the drawings.

The trolley-pole l is provided with a head 2, comprising a sleeve 3, fitted over the up-.

per end of the pole, an arm 4, extending laterally from the upper end of the sleeve, and a harp support or socket carried by the arm and disposed horizontally. The socket 5 is in the form of a substantially oval chamber having a detachable bottom wall 6, formed with a thrust bearing or seat7, directly above which the top wall 8 of the socket is provided with an apertured boss 9. The bossQ and the seat 7 afford upper and lower bearings for the shank l0 of a trolley-harp 11, at the upper end of which is secured in the usual manner the short transverse shaft 12 for the support of the trolley or wheel 13.

Vithin the harp 11 is mounted a contactspring 'la substantially U-shaped andretained by the head 15 of the shank 10, which latter passes through an opening in the base portion of the spring 111, as shown in Fig. 3. The upper ends of the contact-spring 14 are inwardly deflected to bear against the opposite sides of the wheel 13 and are pierced by the shaft 12. The opposite side portions of the contactspring will therefore be seen to perform two distinct functions. First, they serve as a portion of the electrical connection between the trolley-wheel and the motor, and, second, they constitute means for yieldingly retaining the trolley-wheel centered within the arch, but

permitting' said wheel to have such slight of the sleeve 3 and provided with contact pins or plugs 18, passed through the end oi' the sleeve and into engagement with a disk 19, resting upon the upper end of the tubular trolley-pole l, as shown in Fig. 3. The plate 17 is detachably secured in place by a headed bolt 20, passed through the end of the sleeve 3 and through an oblong' slot 21 in the plate. Upon the reduced threaded end 22 of the bolt is secured a nut 23, corresponding to the slot 21 and arranged when turned crosswise of the slot, as shown in Fig. 2, to prevent the removal of the plate. When it is desired to detach the plate, it is simply necessary to turn the nut 23 into coincidence with the slot 21, when it will be obvious that the plate may be lifted from the end of the sleeve.

The bifurcated end 16 of the plate 17 is slightly resilient and is deflected so as to lie iiat upon the base of the spring 14, this relation of parts serving to maintain the contact between the spring and the plate notwithstanding the movement of the harp upon its vertical axis. It will be seen that since the harp is swiveled in the socket 5 the trolleywheel is permitted to swing upon a vertical axis in order to accommodate turnouts, curves,

or other considerable deflections of the wire.l

It has been stated that the invention contemplates the employment of means which retains the harp in engagement with the socket and which also serves to automatically aline the wheel with the pole whenever the wheel leaves the wire. The means referred to is in the form of a lat U-shaped spring 24, housed within the socket 5 and retained in place by the bolts 25, 26, and 27, which serve to secure the bottom wall 6 of the socket 5 in place. By reference to Fig. 4 it will be seen that the bolt 25 is located within the curved or looped end of the spring and that the extremities 28 of the spring 24 are bent outwardly around the bolts 26 and 27. It will thus be seen that the spring is retained against longitudinal movement by the bolts and is held against movement in a vertical plane by the top and bottom walls of the socket. The opposite parallel side portions of the spring 24 are received within recesses 29 and 30, formed in the opposite sides of the shank 10 and defining flat bearing-faces 31, against which the sides of the spring bear, and shoulders 32, opposed to the lower edges of the spring. The location of the spring above the shoulders 32 obviously prevents the Withdrawal of the shank from the socket except when the Wheel is turned at right angles to its normal position, at which time the rotation of the shank 10 will have expanded the sides of the spring to eiect the disengagement of the spring and shoulders. The spring will thus be seen to constitute means for detachably retaining the harp in place; but it serves another function-to wit, the alinement of the wheel with the pole whenever the wheel is withdrawn from the wire.

The reason for this is that as the harpv turns on its vertical axis the reduced portion ot' the shank lying between the recesses 29 and 30 will effect the expansion ot' the spring, the resiliency of which is suiiicient to restore the wheel to its position in alinement with the pole whenever such movement of the wheel is unresisted by its contact with the wire. The reduced portion of the shank may therefore be said to constitute a cam 33, coacting with the spring 24 to rotate the harp for the purpose of automatically restoring the wheel to its alined position. It is also desired to to provide a wheel-guard for preventing staywires and cross connections from passing under the wheel and into engagement with the harp. I form upon the upper end of the sleeve 3 a lug or projection 34, extended into proximity with the periphery of the wheel 13 and acting as a guard for the purpose stated.

It is obvious that the provisions for compelling the trolley to accommodate itself to the wire and for insuring its electrical connection with the pole conductor will obviate arcing, and thereby conserve the electrical energy.

It is thought that from the foregoing the construction, operation, and many advantages of my trolley will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art without further description; but while the present embodiment ot the invention is thought at this time to be preferable I desire to reserve the right to etfect such changes, modiiications, and variations ot' the illustrated structure as may fall fairly within the scope of the protection prayed.

lhat I claim is- 1. The combination with a head, a harp swiveled therein, and a trolley mounted in the harp; oil a contact member mounted in the harp and engaging the trolley, and a second contact member carried by the head and contacting with the iirst-named member in a manner to permit free movement of the harp without breaking the connection between said members.

2. The combination with a head, a harp swiveled therein, and a trolley mounted in the harp; of a substantially U -shaped contactspring engaging the opposite sides of the trolley to yieldingly retain the same against lateral movement, and a contact-plate carried by the head and engaging the contact-spring.

3. The combination lwith a head, a harp swiveled therein, and a trolley mounted in the harp; of a contact-spring engaging the opposite sides of the trolley, a contact-plate carried by the head and engaging the spring, and means Jfor establishing electrical connection between the contact-plate and the trolley-pole.

4. The combination with a head, a harp swiveled therein, and a trolley mounted in the harp; of a substantially U -shaped contactspring bearing against the opposite sides of the trolley, a contact-plate carried by the head IOO IIO

IIS

and bearing upon the contact-spring, contactplugs extending into the head from the plate, and means for detachably securing the plate in place.

5. rI`he combination with a trolley-pole; of a head comprising a sleeve litted upon the upper end of the pole and a socket connected to the sleeve, a harp swiveled in the socket, a trolley mounted in the harp, a substantially U-shaped contact-spring mounted in the harp and bearing against the opposite sides oil the trolley, a contact-plate mounted on the upper end-ot' the sleeve and engaging the spring, contact-plugs extending into the sleeve from the plate, and a metal disk contacting with said plugs and with the upper end of the trolley-pole.

6. The combination with a head; of a harp, a trolley mounted in the harp, a U-shaped contact-spring bearing against the opposite sides of the trolley, and a headed harp-shank swiveled in the head and serving' to retain the spring in the harp.

7. The combination with a head; of a harp swiveled therein, a trolley-wheel mounted in the harp, and means yieldingly retaining the trolley in alinement with the pole and also lerving to detachably connect the harp to the 8. The combination with a head comprising a sleeve and a hollow socket extended laterally therefrom; of a harp provided with a shank swiveled in the socket, a trolley mounted in the harp, and a spring housed within the socket and engaging the harp-shank to yieldingly retain the trolley in alinelnent with the sleeve.

9. The combination with a head provided with a socket; of a harp provided with a shank journaled in the socket and formed with a cam portion, and a spring housed within the socket and bearing against the cam portion of the shank to yieldingly retain the harp in its normal position.

10. The combination with a head provided with a socket; of a harp having a shank liournaled in said socket, said shank having diametrically-opposed recesses, and spring members mounted in the socket and received within the recesses of the shank to yieldingly retain the harp in its normal position.

l1. The combination with a head provided with a hollow socket; of a harp having a shank journaled in the socket, said shank being provided with diametrically-opposed recesses, a U-shaped spring housed within the socket and having its opposite sides engaging the recesses in the shank, and means Jr'or retaining the opposite ends ot' the spring'.

l2. The combination with a head, and a hollow socket provided with a detachable bottom wall formed with a seat; of a harp provided with a shank journaled in the socket and having its end received within the seat, diametrically-opposed recesses in the shank, and a substantially U-shaped spring housed within the socket and having its opposite side portions disposed within said recesses.

13. The combination with a head comprising a sleeve, a laterally-extended arm and a socket provided with a detachable bottoni wall formed with a scat; of a harp having a shank extending through the socket and into the seat and formed with dianietrically-opposed recesses, a substantially U shaped spring housed within the socket and having its side portions located in the recesses of the shank, and bolts constituting securing1 means for the bottom walls of the socket and engaging the Spring to retain the opposite ends thereof.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto atlixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WlLliIAlll ALBERT HOLLAND.

Witnesses:

BERTHA CooviaR, JAMES F. BELL. 

